In the previous episode, we had witnessed the Paandavas strategizing their way out of the “Laaksha Griha”. The broad strategy was that, they would wait till Purochana trusts them and one night when he was sleeping, they would somehow sneak out of the “Laaksha Griha” and burn it up to trap Purochana inside. As the Paandavas were strategizing thus, a workman arrived from Hastinapura, introducing himself as Vidura’s messenger. To earn Yudishtra’s trust, the workman narrates all what Vidura had advised him in the “Mlecha Bhaasha” and with this, the Paandavas knew that he was a trusted aide of Vidura. The workman joined the strategizing process along with Yudishtra and Co. and finally, a tunnel was planned to be built underground, so that this would serve as a secretive exit route for all of them. The workman cautioned them that it was not easy for the Paandavas to sneak through the normal entrance / exit gates as Purochana is a very shrewd person to find out the intention with which the exit is done. Hence, the only way to outsmart Purochana is to escape through an underground tunnel, which he might not know.
Moreover, the day on which Purochana and Duryodhana are planning to burn down the “Laaksha Griha” is the “Krishna-paksha Chaturdashi” day, which is quite far off. As a lot of time is left, the workman assures the Paandavas that he would finish the tunneling work within that day. Thus, the tunneling work goes on in full swing and the workman singlehandedly does all the work. This work goes on without the knowledge of Purochana, who is not going out even for a single minute. He is constantly inside the house 24*7, with a constant vigil over the Paandavas. The Paandavas in turn behave well with Purochaha, thus earning his trust. As time passed by, Purochana believed that the Paandavas trusted him a lot and they treated him as a loyal and a royal servant with all the respect! Yudishtra was extremely smart in that way, and somehow kept Purochana away from the place from where the tunnel was being built.
As this tunneling work was coming to an end, the day that Duryodhana had anticipated was also coming closer. At this point in time, there was a woman who had five sons. All of them were wicked in nature and were all assisting Purochana in whatever he was doing. These six people also used to reside in the same “Laaksha Griha” for the night and as the “D-day” arrived, Yudistra saw this as an opportunity. Meanwhile, there was someone outside who was ready with the fire! Bheemasena saw this secretly from a window and the Paandavas decided that it is now or never! Along with Kunthi Devi, all of them jumped into the tunnel one after the other, walked underground and came outside through another exit that was far outside the “”Laaksha Griha” near the banks of River Ganga. As this was happening, it was the wee hour of the night and the time that the Paandavas left along with Kunthi Devi, the Laaksha Griha was set on fire!
Since the “Laaksha Griha” was built with all inflammable items, the fire catches quickly and the entire palace started burning with full steam! Duryodhana’s messenger set the fire on to the “Laaksha Griha” thinking that the five people and the wicked woman (Purochana’s assistants) were the five Paandava brothers along with Kunthi Devi. They were all sleeping at one point, which was visible for Duryodhana’s assistant from outside. As the fire was set, Duryodhana’s messenger runs away from that spot, so that he is not traced by anybody outside. As the “Laaksha Griha” was burning, the Paandavas safely exited out of the tunnel and were shell-shocked to see the entire palace on fire! They were protected by timely help from Vidura!
As the Paandavas reach the banks of the river, there was a boatman readily waiting for them, who again introduced himself as someone who was sent by Vidura to transport them safely across the river. We’re witnessing multiple places wherein Vidura was of great help to the Paandavas and how he protected them at critical junctures when their lives were at risk. Thus, the Paandavas got into the raft and with this, they reached the other side of the river safely. So for today, let us understand until this point, and let us witness in the next episode as to what happened next at Hastinapura! Duryodhana would have been an extremely happy person because his “plan” was executed with “perfection”! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 